Scraper blade



May 10, 1966 OCHER AL 3,250,026

SCRAPER BLADE Filed Dec. 23, 1963 United States Patent 3,250,026 SCRAPERBLADE Alfred J. Jocher, Lombard, and Herbert C. Glesmann, Naperville,Ill., assignors to International Harvester Company, Chicago, Ill., acorporation of New Jersey Filed Dec. 23, 1963, Ser. No. 332,672 3Claims. (CI. 37-42) The present invention relates generally toimprovements in scraper blades and more particularly to new and improvedmeans for absorbing the resulting shock when the blade encounters anobstruction.

In the construction of, scraper blades,.it has been the general practiceto mount the blade such that the lower edge can tilt back when anobstruction is encountered. In the prior art devices the blade isnormally pivotally mounted and spring biased towards its operativeposition. When an obstructionis encountered the blade is tiltedrearwardly against the action of the spring and when the obstruction'ispassed, the spring functions to bias the blade back to its operativeposition. Abutments are provided to prevent further movement of theblade when it reaches its operative position. During operation materialloads placed against thelower edge require that the springs haveconsiderable strength. Therefore when an obstruction is encountered thesprings cause the blade to return with extreme force and speed. Since itis desirable to have the blade return to its operative position as fastas possible it is desirable to use strong springs for this purpose. Thesprings move the blade very swiftly and when the abutments are engaged,the blade comes to a sudden stop transmitting a very the scraper frame.

The general purpose of this invention is to provide a scraper bladewhich embraces all of the advantages of similarly employed scraperblades and possesses none of the afore-described disadvantages. Toattain this, the present invention contemplates the use of a resilientshock member on the blade to serve both as an abutment for stopping themovement of the blade and also as a shock absorber to absorb the impactfrom the sudden stop. 'This resilient shock member also permits alimited pivotal movement of the top edge of the scraper blade in arearward direction.

large shock or stress to An object of the present invention is theprovision of a scraper blade that will tilt to avoid obstructions andreturn to its operative position in a shock-free manner.

Another object is to provide a scraper blade that will quickly return toits operative position after encountering an obstruction without theoccurrence of a sudden shock. A further object of the invention is theprovision of a scraper blade with means to stop the blade in itsoperative position and to also absorb the shock of the sudden stop.Still another object of the invention is to provide a scraper blade thatis permitted, a limited pivotal movement about an axis parallel to itsupper and lower edges in either direction and includes means for biasingthe blade toward its normal operative position.

These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent fromthe specification and drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle having a scraper blademounted thereon;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the back of applicants scraper blade;

FIGURE 3 is a side view of applicants scraper blade; and

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view of the scraper blade taken alonglines 4-4 of FIGURE 2.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference charactersdesignate like or corresponding parts through- P CC out the severalviews, there is shown in FIGURE 1 9. ve-

hicle 1 having wheels 2 and a bumper 3. A pair of mounts 4 are securedto the vehicle frame that have open slots 5 that are used in securingthe scraper blade to the vehicle as shall be presently described in moredetail.

The mounts 4 are also provided with stub shafts 6 that re-' ceive springclips 7.

The scraper blade, generally designated 10, is pivotally carried by themounts 4 and its elevation can be adjusted or controlled by thehydraulic lift 20.

Referring now to FIGURES 2, 3 and 4, the scraper blade shall bedescribed in detail. The scraper blade includes a moldboard 11 having alongitudinal brace member 14 secured to its back surface along its upperedge. The longitudinal brace member 14 functions to add rigidity to themoldboard to provide a means upon which to mount the S-shaped resilientshock member 18 and the springs 33. A pair of vertical brace members 15are secured to the back surface of the moldboard and extend from thelongitudinal brace member 14 downwardly towards the moldboards loweredge. The vertical brace members 15 function to add rigidity to themoldboard 11 and also to provide means upon which the main frame 12 canbe pivotally connected to the moldboard 11. A lower rib 16 is secured tothe back surface of the moldboard and functions to add rigidity andsupport to the moldboard and also to the vertical brace members 15. TheS-shaped resilient shock member 18 is secured as by welding along theupper face of the longitudinal brace member 14. A notch 19 is formed inthe lower lip of the S-shaped resilient shock member that is adapted toreceive the abutment member 24 of the main frame. The S-shaped resilientshock member 18 forms in effect a cantilever spring for absorbing theshock created by the moldboard when it is returned to its. operativeposition by the springs 33.

The main frame 12 of the scraper blade 10 includes a base 21 and amounting section 22. As can be best seen in FIGURE 4, the mountingsection 22 is pivotally connected to the base 21 by a pivot pin 26. Theabutment member 24, that is secured to the base section 21 is coaxial tothe pivot pin 26. Thus, when the mounting section 22 is pivoted withrespect to the base 21, the abutment member 24 rotates in the notch 19of the S-shaped resilient shock member 18. A locking pin 25 is mountedin the base 21 and is adapted to extend. through one of a plurality ofapertures 29 formed in the mounting section 22. The locking pin 25 has atop shoulder 26 that stops the downward movement of the pin and a bottomshoulder 27 that forms a means against which a spring 28 can react. Thespring 28 reacting against the bottom shoulder 27 biases the locking pindownwardly to thus lock the mounting section 22 in a selected positionwith respect to the base member 21.

If it is desired to place-the moldboard 11 at an angle with respect tothe direction of travel of the vehicle the locking pin 25 is raisedagainst the action of the spring 28 thereby freeing the moldboard andthe mounting section 22 from the main frame 21 for pivotal movement.When the desired position is reached and the locking pin 25 is'inalignment with one of the plurality of apertures 29 the pin is releasedand permitted to drop into the aperture 29 thus locking the moldboardandmounting frame 22 in place with respect to the base 21. The base section22 has a pivot shaft 23 secured thereto that is adapted to extendthrough apertures in the pair of vertical brace members 15, topivot-ally connect the mounting frame 22 to the moldboard 11. Means,such as cotter pins 24, are used to hold the pivot shaft 23 in place.A-pair of eyelets 45 are secured to the mounting frame 22 and areadapted to receive one end of the springs 33. The other end of thesprings 33 are adapted to extend through apertures formed in thelongitudinal 2% base member 14. The springs 33 function to bias themoldboard in a counterclockwise direction, as seen in FIGURES 3 and 4.This counterclockwise rotation of the moldboard is stopped when theabutment member 24 engages the notch 19 in the S-shaped resilient shockmember 18. Thus, if the lower edge of the moldboard 11 encounters anobstruction the moldboard 11 is pivoted about the shaft 23 until theobstruction is overcome, as seen in broken lines of FIGURE 4. Once theobstruction is past, the springs 33 function to rotate the moldboard ina counterclockwise direction towards its normal operative position. Whenthe abutment member 24 engages the notch 19, the moldboard is notbrought to a sudden abrupt stop but rather the S-shaped resilient shockmember 18 yields to absorb the shock created by bringing the moldboardto a stop. Further, if the top edge of the moldboard were to engage anobstruction, the moldboard will be permitted, by the S-shaped resilientshock member, a certain amount of movement in the counterclockwisedirection, as seen in FIGURES 3 and 4. Referring now to FIGURES l and 2the means for connecting the scraper blade 10 to the Vehicle 1 will bediscussed. As seen in FIGURE 2, a shaft 30 is mounted in the free end ofthe base section 21 of the main frame. The shaft 30 has end portionswhich extend outwardly from the mounting section 22. The free end of themounting section 22 is dimensioned such that it substantially fitsbetween the mounts 4 carried by the vehicle. The end portions of theshaft 30 are placed in the open slots of the mounts 4. The shackles 31are formed from a piece of sheet material having a pair of spacedapertures formed therein. The apertures in the shackles 31 are spacedsuch that one receives stub shaft 6 mounted on the mount 4 and the otherreceives the end portion of the shaft 30. Spring clips 32 are providedto hold the shackles 31 in place on the stub shafts 6 and the endportions of the shaft 30.

With a mounting such as this the scraper blade can be connected anddisconnected from the vehicle by merely disengaging the spring clips 32and the chain 50 that extends from the hydraulic lift 20.

The hydraulic lift includes a first U-shaped channel member 34 and asecond U-shaped channel member 35 that is pivotally connected to themember 34. A hydraulic jack 40 is pivotally connected at one end to thefirst U-shaped channel member 34 and also at its other end to the secondU-shaped channel member 35. When hydraulic fluid under pressure isdirected to the hydraulic jack 40 channel member 35 pivots with respectto the channel member 34 and through the chain 50 the vertical positionof the scraper blade 10 is thus controlled.

It should be understood of course that the foregoing disclosure relatesto only a preferred embodiment of the invention and that numerousmodifications or alterations may be made therein without departing fromthe spirit and the scope of the invention, as set forth in the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a scraper blade including a moldboard, having a front and rearsurface, a top edge and a bottom edge, a longitudinal brace membersecured to the rear surface of said moldboard along said top edge, apair of vertical brace members secured to the rear surface of saidmoldboard, said vertical brace members being spaced from each other andextending from said longitudinal brace member downwardly to the bottomedge of said moldboard, an S-shaped resilient shock member secured alongone of its lips to said longitudinal brace member between said pair ofvertical brace members, a main frame adapted to be connected at one endto a vehicle and pivotally connected at its other end to the pair ofvertical brace members, an abutment member carried by said main framemember such that it will be engaged by said S-shaped resilient shockmember when the top edge of the moldboard is pivoted rearwardly, andspring means interconnecting said longitudinal brace member and saidmain frame to bias said S-shaped resilient shock member into engagementwith said abutment member.

2. The invention as set forth in claim 1 wherein said main frameincludes a base, a mounting section pivotally connected to said baseabout a substantially vertical axis and means for locking said base andmounting section in a selected position relative to each other.

3. The invention as set forth in claim 2 wherein the pivotal connectionbetween the main frame and said pair of vertical brace members islocated on the mounting section of said main frame and said abutmentmember is mounted on the base of said main frame.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,050,508 1/ 1913Ahrweiler 267-54 C 1,786,974 12/1930 Abbe 37-42 2,225,614 12/1940 Ball3742 2,264,368 12/1941 Gettelman 3742 2,616,191 11/1952 Cook et al. 3742FOREIGN PATENTS 27,442 6/1955 Finland.

ABRAHAM G. STONE, Primary Examiner.

F. B. HENRY, Assistant Examiner.

1. IN A SCRAPER BLADE INCLUDING A MOLDBOARD, HAVING A FRONT AND REARSURFACE, A TOP EDGE AND A BOTTOM EDGE, A LONGITUDINAL BRACE MEMBERSECURED TO THE REAR SURFACE OF SAID MOLDBOARD ALONG SAID TOP EDGE, APAIR OF VERTICAL BRACE MEMBERS SECURED TO THE REAR SURFACE OF SAIDMOLDBOARD, SAID VERTICAL BRACE MEMBERS BEING SPACED FROM EACH OTHER ANDEXTENDING FROM SAID LONGITUDINAL BRACE MEMBER DOWNWARDLY TO THE BOTTOMEDGE OF SAID MOLDBOARD, AN S-SHAPED RESILIENT SHOCK MEMBER SECURED ALONGONE OF ITS LIPS TO SAID LONGITUDINAL BRACE MEMBER BETWEEN SAID PAIR OFVERTICAL BRACE MEMBERS, A MAIN FRAME ADAPTED TO BE CONNECTED AT ONE ENDTO A VEHICLE AND PIVOTALLY CONNECTED AT ITS OTHER END TO THE PAIR OFVERTICAL BRACE MEMBERS, AN ABUTMENT MEMBER CARRIED BY SAID MAIN FRAMEMEMBER SUCH THAT IT WILL BE ENGAGED BY SAID S-SHAPED RESILIENT SHOCKMEMBER WHEN THE TOP EDGE OF THE MOLDBOARD IS PIVOTED REARWARDLY, ANDSPRING MEANS INTERCONNECTING SAID LONGITUDINAL BRACE MEMBER AND SAIDMAIN FRAME TO BIAS SAID S-SHAPED RESILIENT SHOCK MEMBER INTO ENGAGEMENTWITH SAID ABUTMENT MEMBER.